![US Wants to Help Endangered Yellowstone Fish with $57M Dam](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2016/02/Hydroelectric-dam-shutterstock.jpg?w=630&h=420&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89&w=980&q=75)
US Wants to Help Endangered Yellowstone Fish with $57M Dam
U.S. officials say building a $57 million concrete dam and fish bypass channel along Montana's Yellowstone River offers the cheapest way to help an endangered species that dates to the time of dinosaurs.
The U.S Army Corps and Interior Department are proposing the irrigation dam on the lower Yellowstone near the North Dakota border.
That's where aging pallid sturgeon have been trapped for decades downstream of their spawning grounds.
Environmentalists say the dam could doom the fish and there's no proof the bypass channel would work.
They want the government to remove an existing man-made rock weir on the river. The weir diverts water for 58,000 acres of cropland.
A government study published Thursday said removing the weir and using pumps to get water would cost $138 million or more.
More From Newstalk KGVO 1290 AM & 98.3 FM
![Man Charged With Sex Trafficking in Missoula](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2024/04/attachment-featured-image-2024-04-16T090611.436.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Montana’s Fire Season May Not Be As Bad As We Feared](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2024/04/attachment-FiredangerModerateLow.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![UM students model the Clark Fork River, Smurfit contamination](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2024/03/attachment-smurfit.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Flood Update: Yellowstone Now Evacuating Stranded Visitors](http://townsquare.media/site/15/files/2022/06/attachment-Flooding-Yellowstone-National-Park.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Billings Fire Urges Residents to ‘Refrain from Recreating on the Yellowstone’](http://townsquare.media/site/109/files/2022/06/attachment-Yellowstone-River.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Yellowstone River Fish Killed By Same Parasite As Last Year – On A Much Smaller Scale](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2017/09/fishKill.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Painted Rocks Dam Burst Could Cause ’30 Foot Wall of Water’ to Hit Hamilton, Group Says](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2017/02/Steve-Holton-Flood-1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Montana Scores A Win Over Water With Wyoming](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2016/12/Yellowstone-River-iStockPhoto-139693240.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Yellowstone River Closures Could Cost Businesses $500k](http://townsquare.media/site/119/files/2012/08/Yellowstone-River-iStockPhoto-139693240.jpg?w=980&q=75)